Digital transmission circuit and method providing selectable power consumption via single-ended or differential operation

ABSTRACT

A digital transmission circuit and method providing selectable power consumption via single-ended or differential operation improves the flexibility of an interface while reducing power consumption when possible. A differential path is provided through the transmitter output driver stages and portions are selectively disabled when the transmission circuit is in a lower-power operating mode. A single-ended to differential converter circuit can be used to construct a differential signal for output to the final driver stage. The selection of power mode can be made via feedback from a channel quality measurement unit or may be hardwired or selected under programmatic control. The longer delay or skew of the lower-power single-ended mode is compensated for by the relaxed requirements of the channel when conditions permit the use of the lower-power single-ended mode.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is related to co-pending U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 10/289,777, Publication No. 20040203483, entitled “INTERFACETRANSCEIVER POWER MANAGEMENT METHOD AND APPARATUS”, filed on Nov. 7,2002, having at least one common inventor and assigned to the sameassignee. The specification of the above-referenced patent applicationis herein incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to communication link circuits,and more particularly, to digital signal transmitters having selectabledrive capability and power consumption.

2. Description of the Related Art

Interfaces between present-day system devices and also between circuitshave increased in operating frequency and complexity. In particular,high-speed serial interfaces include transmitters and receivers thattypically consume relatively large amounts of the power budget of anintegrated circuit. However, depending on channel conditions andparameters, the maximum output signal level of a transmission circuitmay not be required for proper signal reception at the remote end of theinterface. For example, the channel physical length may be shorter insome applications than in others, reducing signal degradation andthereby reducing transmit power requirements for the same receivercomplexity.

Due to limited design resources and the need to satisfy the requirementsof multiple interface applications, customers and channel conditions,transmitters and receivers within above-described interfaces aretypically designed for the worst-case bit error rates and environmentalconditions, leading to relatively complex receivers and high powertransmitters. As a result, it is not always possible to provide atransmitter having lower power consumption when a high channel qualityis available.

The above-incorporated patent application discloses an interface inwhich the transmitters and receivers have adjustable and/or adaptiveparameters for finely tuning an interface to manage power consumption.One of the controllable parameters is the transmitter power level of theinterface driver circuit(s). However, typical transmit power adjustmentperformed by changing the driver voltage and/or current levels is notalways a preferable mechanism to adjust transmit power. Communicationslinks within and between computer subsystems have reached bandwidths ofbetween 5 gHz and 10 gHz and interface frequencies can be expected toincrease in the future. Driver circuits operating at such highfrequencies do not typically scale operation well over voltage or biascurrent adjustments, as internal impedances change with such adjustmentscausing mismatch and loss of power. Delay also typically increases withreduced transmitter power, compromising the integrity of the datawindow.

Transmitter drivers as described above are not generally simple digitalbuffers or inverters that switch power rail levels using an effectivelynear-zero impedance onto the interface line, but are typically lineardriver circuits providing multiple stages of amplification or switcheshaving progressively increasing and controlled signal current levels.The cascaded driver circuits progressively raise the power level of thesignals internal to an integrated circuit or subsystem to the levelrequired for transmission across the interface channel. Such complexcircuits are susceptible to impedance changes due to power leveladjustment and therefore such adjustment may not result in optimumperformance for a given power consumption level. For example, if themismatch between stages and at the input of the driver circuit increaseswhen the transmit power level is dropped, the transmit power decreasewill not be linear. Such non-linearity indicates an inefficiency of thedriver at the lower power level. Similarly, if the transmitter isdesigned so that impedance matching is ideal at the lower power level,then at higher power consumption levels, the output power will notprovide a linear increase with the consumption level. Delay necessarilyincreases with decreased signal levels through the stages due to devicecapacitance changes and charge effects relative to the reduced signalstrength.

It is therefore desirable to provide an interface transmitter circuithaving selectable power consumption that is efficient in both high andlow power modes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The objective of providing an interface transceiver having selectablereduced power consumption while retaining power efficiency is achievedin a method and apparatus.

The apparatus is a transmitter circuit for transmitting a digital signaland having multiple cascaded driver stages. The final driver stage hasan output connected to one or more interface signal lines and has a pairof differential inputs. The power level of the transmitter circuit iscontrolled by selectively enabling one or more pre-driver circuitsproviding the input to one or both of the differential inputs, providinga reduction in power consumption. If the final portions of bothpre-driver circuit paths are disabled, then a single-ended todifferential signal converter is used to provide the inputs to the finaldriver stage, selected via a multiplexer. In fully differential mode,both pre-driver paths are fully are enabled and the single-ended todifferential converter is disabled.

The selection and power control process may be programmable by a logicconnection, register bit or via a signal from an interface qualitymeasurement circuit. A remote transmitter may also be power-managed atthe other end of the interface by transmitting a control signal to theremote transmitter.

The foregoing and other objectives, features, and advantages of theinvention will be apparent from the following, more particular,description of the preferred embodiment of the invention, as illustratedin the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The novel features believed characteristic of the invention are setforth in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, as well asa preferred mode of use, further objectives, and advantages thereof,will best be understood by reference to the following detaileddescription of an illustrative embodiment when read in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals indicate likecomponents, and:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of transceivers connected by an interface inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a transmission circuit in accordancewith an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a signal diagram depicting signals within the circuit of FIG.2.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart depicting a method in accordance with anembodiment of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENT

With reference now to the figures, and in particular with reference toFIG. 1, there is depicted a block diagram of transceivers 12A and 12Bconnected by an interface or channel 10 in accordance with an embodimentof the invention. Transceivers 12A, 12B may be located within a devicesuch as a computer peripheral, a computer system, or within integratedcircuits interconnected within a system. Interface 10 may be a singletwo wire bi-directional interface as depicted, or may be a full-duplexsingle wire interface or a bus having multiple transceivers in ahalf-duplex or full-duplex configuration. Transceivers 12A and 12B areconnected to interface 10 each using a receiver 14A and 14B and atransmitter 16A and 16B, but the present invention is applicable totransmitters in general, and it should be understood that a transmitterin accordance with an embodiment of the invention may be incorporated indevices for connection to any of the above-specified types of interface10, as well as other forms of electrical signal interconnection.

Transmitters 16A, 16B of the present invention incorporate power controlmode selection inputs SELA and SELB that reduce the power consumption ofthe transmitter when channel conditions permit. Blocks that are unneededwithin transmitters 16A, 16B are disabled by isolating one or more powersupply rails from the block or by designing the block with an enablesignal input that prevents or substantially reduces current flow throughthe block. Lower-power alternative signal path blocks within 16A, 16Bthat support only a fraction of the worst-case interface specificationfor the interface may also be substituted in place of higher-powerconsumption blocks that support transmission at the highest rates underthe worst-case conditions for the interface.

Thus, the above-described transmitter circuits provide a selectablepower consumption that can be used to provide lower power usage anddissipation within transceivers 12A and 12B, when channel conditions aregood, while maintaining low bit error rates (BERs) using a higher powerconsumption state when channel conditions are poor.

The selection of power consumption states via select input SELA may behard-wired or externally programmed using an external signal terminal 17or may be programmed using a bit register 19 within transceiver 12A.Receiver 14A, transmitter 16A or both may be controlled by one or moreselection signals, for example, multiple bits may be provided for eachof transmitter 16A and receiver 14A so that power consumption may bevery finely traded off for receiver processing power or transmittersignal strength, etc. Alternatively, a single bit or external terminalmay be used to set a single binary power consumption selection for bothtransmitter 16A and receiver 14A. Details of receivers having selectablepower consumption are detailed in the above-incorporated patentapplication and those receivers may be used in concert with thetransmission circuits of the present invention.

Transceiver 12A is an example of a transceiver having external powermode selection via register programming or external connection. Wired orregister selection of power modes is very useful in integrated circuitsand systems, including computer systems, communication systems orperipherals. In such systems, external terminal 17 can be hard-wireddepending on the application (e.g., known short shielded cable lengthattached to a peripheral dictates a high channel quality or connectionof two transceivers on a high-quality circuit board also dictates highchannel quality).

Transceiver 12B is an example of a transceiver having automaticchannel-quality-based power level selection in response to a measurementperformed by interface quality measurement block 18, which may be aneye-diagram circuit, an error detection circuit or other mechanism fordetecting that the channel quality is less than a desired threshold.Select signal SEL B is provided by an output of interface qualitymeasurement block 18 and automatically selects higher or lowertransmitter power in conformity with the measured channel quality.

Another type of transceiver power consumption control is provided by aninterface link wherein a register such as programmable register 19 maybe set via reception of a command code sent over interface 10 andreceived by a receiver such as receiver 14A. Remote interface linkcontrol is useful for informing a transceiver about channel conditionswhen the transceiver being programmed has no ability to determine thechannel quality or does not have information regarding channelconditions (such as cable length). Also, return of channel quality fromthe remote side of an interface provides absolute information about thetransmitted signals, where measurement at the local side provides onlyan estimate based on reception of signals from the remote side.Therefore, in practice, it would be desirable to provide interfacequality measurements at both ends of the interface and return channelquality measurement information to the originating side for controllingtransmitter power in accordance with the present invention.

Referring now to FIG. 2, details of a transmitter 20 in accordance withan embodiment of the invention are depicted. A digital serializationblock 21 receives a plurality of Data In signals for serialization overinterface 10. At the output of digital serialization block 21 foursignals are provided in the depicted example: two differential pairsrepresenting two distinct data signals. The circuit depicted in FIG. 2is only illustrative of an example and should not be construed aslimiting the invention. The present invention is equally applicable tosignals that are not serialized/multiplexed at all.

Pre-buffers 22A and 22B receive a respective polarity signal from eachof the differential pairs and provide a boosted signal to the inputs ofa corresponding multiplexer 23A and 23B. Multiplexers 23A and 23B haveselect inputs connected to transmit clock signals that select one of thedistinct data signals, providing the last stage of serialization. Thus,the outputs of multiplexers 23A and 23B represent a differentialserialized data stream. However, in low power mode, power mode control29 disables pre-buffer 22B, multiplexer 23B and another prebuffer 24Bthat normally receives half of the differential pair provided bymultiplexers 23A and 23B. The above listed blocks are generally highpower consumers and therefore disabling them results in a substantialreduction of power consumption by transmitter 20. In the depictedembodiment, pre-buffer 24A is also disabled and the function ofproviding a differential pair to output driver 28 is provided by asingle-ended to differential converter block 26 designed for low powerconsumption. The output of output driver 28 is depicted as adifferential pair, which generally would be the type of signaling usedon such an interface in order to achieve the advantages of channelquality sufficient that the low power mode can be used under appropriatechannel conditions. However, the internal architecture and power controlof the present invention can be applied to a single-ended interfacedriver that has differential inputs.

Single-ended to differential converter block can be provided by acapacitively-coupled amplifier or comparator 27 as shown, or anotherdigital or analog circuit capable of providing a differential outputfrom a single-ended signal. Single-ended to differential converter block26 is disabled by power mode control 29 when the high-power operatingmode is selected. Multiplexers 25A and 25B have a select input coupledto power mode control 29 for selecting between outputs of single-endedto differential converter block 26 and the outputs of pre-buffers 24Aand 24B.

Alternatively, if output driver 28 is designed such that it will operatewith a single-ended input, the + input of output driver 28 may beappropriately biased and pre-buffer 24A can be left enabled, in whichcase multiplexer 25A is not needed. Multiplexer 25B may be neededdepending on the output level of pre-buffer 24B when disabled.

Disabling the various blocks listed above is generally accomplished inone of two manners: one or more power supply rails are disconnected fromthe blocks via power control transistors, or the blocks are designedwith internal devices that block some or all of the current conductionthrough the block, as in the case with digital circuits having internalcircuits that can suppress switching action in response to a disableinput.

The result of the power control of transmitter 20 is that the delay andsignal strength through transmitter 20 is changed depending on powermode. Increased delay due to lower-power operation is tolerable whenchannel conditions permit, as is the lower signal strength provided whenthe low-power mode is selected. Such conditions can either be detectedvia the feedback mechanisms detailed with respect to FIG. 1 above, ormay be selected based on expected channel conditions and architecturessuch as interface connection type and environment.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a signal diagram depicting the timing andrelative amplitude of signals within transmitter 20 is shown. Datasignals D0− and D1− are shown for illustration (signals D0+ and D1+would be complementary to them and are not shown). The outputs ofmultiplexers 23A and 23B are relatively low amplitude signalsrepresenting the multiplexed data signals as a differential pair PreBuffOut− and PreBuff Out+. (PreBuff Out+ is suppressed in low-power mode, asmultiplexer 23B and pre-buffer 22B are disabled.) Next, the outputs ofprebuffers 24A and 24B, Diff Out+and Diff Out−are shown as they wouldoccur in high-power mode and the outputs of single-ended to differentialconverter 26, SEC Out+ and SEC Out− are shown as they would occur inlow-power mode. Tdelay depicts the increased internal delay due to thelower-power operation of single-ended to differential converter 29versus pre-buffers 24A and 24B, and the relatively lower amplitude ofthe SEC Out signals is also due to the lower-power operation. (It shouldbe noted that any resulting skew from the single-ended to differentialconversion is tolerable in low-power mode, as the low-power modecondition corresponds to a much wider jitter margin due to favorablelink and channel conditions.) Finally, the TxOut signal is depicted as adashed line (high power mode) and a dotted line (low power mode) toillustrate the increased delay and lower amplitude of the signalprovided to interface 10. Tmargin represents the maximum potential delayunder which the above power control scheme can used in low power mode.If the required delay margin at the remote interface is met when the lowpower mode delay of transmitter 20 is as depicted, then single-ended todifferential converter 26 (and/or other blocks within transmitter 20that are operational when in low power mode) can be scaled to operate atthe power level producing that delay when transmitter 20 is in low powermode.

Referring now to FIG. 4, a control method in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention is shown in a flowchart. Thedepicted method illustrates the operation of the above-describedcircuits using feedback from interface quality measurement block 18.First, interface channel quality is measured (step 40) and channelquality information is sent to the transmitter side of the interface(step 41). If the interface channel quality is sufficient to support alower power consumption state within transmitter 20 (decision 42),single-ended internal operation of transmitter 20 is selected (step 43).If the interface channel quality is not sufficient (decision 42) thenthe differential internal operation topology is selected (step 44).While the above-illustrated method provides a sophisticated control ofsignaling on interface 10, it should be understood that such control isnot necessary to practice the present invention, which encompassesselection of the internal operating topology of transmitter 20 viaprogrammatic or hardwired control as well. In such cases, decision 42 ismade a priori, predicted during operation or determined in some othermanner such as during an interface check or upon detection of errorconditions. Step 43 or 44 is then performed in response to the hardwiredor programmatic signal.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described withreference to the preferred embodiment thereof, it will be understood bythose skilled in the art that the foregoing and other changes in form,and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention.

1. A transmission circuit for transmitting a digital signal to one ormore interface conductors, comprising: an output driver having adifferential input for receiving a differential input signal pair andone or more outputs coupled to said one or more interface conductors; apair of pre-driver circuits each having an output coupled to anassociated signal of said differential input signal pair; and a controlcircuit for selectively disabling power supplied to at least one of saidpre-driver circuits in response to a low-power selection state of acontrol signal, whereby power consumption of said transmission circuitis reduced while transmitting data through said output driver.
 2. Thetransmission circuit of claim 1, wherein said control circuit disablesat least a portion of both of said pair of pre-driver circuits inresponse to said low-power selection state of said control signal, andfurther comprising a single-ended to differential signal converterhaving an output coupled to an input of said output driver, and whereinsaid control circuit disables power supplied to said single-ended todifferential signal converter when said control circuit enables saidpair of pre-driver circuits in response to a high-power selection stateof said control signal.
 3. The transmission circuit of claim 2, furthercomprising a multiplexer having outputs coupled to said inputs of saidoutput driver and inputs coupled to and for selecting between outputs ofsaid single-ended to differential signal converter and said outputs ofsaid pair of pre-driver circuits, and having a select input coupled tosaid control circuit for performing said selection, whereby said outputsof said single-ended to differential converter are selected for input tosaid output driver when said control signal is in said low-powerselection state and said outputs of said pre-driver circuits areselected for input to said output driver when said control signal is insaid high-power selection state.
 4. The transmission circuit of claim 3,wherein said control circuit further disables said single-ended todifferential converter when said control signal is in said high-powerselection state.
 5. The transmission circuit of claim 1, furthercomprising: a second pair of pre-driver circuits each having an outputcoupled to an associated signal of said differential input signal pair;and a control circuit for selectively disabling power supplied to atleast one of said second pair of pre-driver circuits in response to saidlow-power selection state of said control signal.
 6. The transmissioncircuit of claim 1, further comprising: a first multiplexer forselecting between a pair of input signals and alternatively selecting aninput signal from said pair of input signals in conformity with a dataclock input, and wherein said first multiplexer has an output coupled toan input of a first one of said pre-driver circuit pair; and a secondmultiplexer for selecting between an inverted pair of signalscorresponding to said pair of input signals and alternatively selectingan inverted input signal from said inverted pair of signals inconformity with said data clock input, and wherein said secondmultiplexer has an output coupled to an input of a second one of saidpre-driver circuit pair, and wherein said control circuit selectivelydisables said second multiplexer when said control signal is in saidlow-power selection state.
 7. The transmission circuit of claim 6,further comprising: at least one buffer circuit having outputs coupledto said first multiplexer for providing said first pair of inputsignals; and at least one second buffer circuit having outputs coupledto said first multiplexer for providing said inverted pair of signals,and wherein said control circuit selectively disables said second buffercircuit when said control signal is in said low-power selection state.8. The transmission circuit of claim 1, further comprising: a firstbuffer circuit having an output coupled to an input of a first one ofsaid pre-driver circuit pair; and a second buffer circuit having anoutput coupled to an input of a second one of said pre-driver circuitpair, and wherein said control circuit selectively disables said secondbuffer circuit when said control signal is in said low-power selectionstate.
 9. The transmission circuit of claim 1, wherein said controlsignal is provided from a programmable register within said transmissioncircuit.
 10. The transmission circuit of claim 1, wherein said controlsignal is provided from a hard-wired terminal of said transmissioncircuit.
 11. The transmission circuit of claim 1, wherein said outputdriver has a pair of differential outputs coupled to said one or moreinterface conductors.
 12. The transmission circuit of claim 1, whereinsaid output driver has a single-ended output coupled to said one of saidinterface conductors.
 13. An interface including: a transmission circuitfor transmitting a digital signal to one or more interface conductors,comprising an output driver having a differential input for receiving adifferential input signal pair and one or more outputs coupled to saidone or more interface conductors, a pair of pre-driver circuits eachhaving an output coupled to an associated signal of said differentialinput signal pair, and a control circuit for selectively disabling powersupplied to at least one of said pre-driver circuits in response to alow-power selection state of a control signal, whereby power consumptionof said transmission circuit is reduced while transmitting data throughsaid output driver; and an interface quality measurement circuit forproviding said control signal in response to a determination of qualityof signals on said interface conductors.
 14. The interface of claim 13,wherein said interface quality measurement circuit is located on aremote side of said interface conductors opposite said output driver,and further comprising: a second transmission circuit located on saidremote side of said interface and coupled to said interface conductorsand said interface quality measurement circuit for transmittingindications of said signal quality determination; a receiver on a localside of said interface and coupled to said one or more interfaceconductors for receiving said indications from said remote side of saidinterface and for providing said control signal in response to saidreceived indications.
 15. The interface of claim 13, wherein saidinterface quality measurement circuit is located on a local side of saidinterface conductors along with said output driver, and wherein saidinterface quality measurement circuit is coupled to said control circuitfor providing said control signal.
 16. A method of controlling powerconsumption in an digital interface transmitter, comprising: receivingan indication of that power consumption of said interface transmittermay be reduced; and disabling one or more internal pre-buffer circuitswithin said digital interface transmitter and along a first signal of adifferential signal path that provides differential input signals to anoutput driver coupled to interface signal lines in response to saidindication.
 17. The method of claim 16, further comprising: measuring aquality of an interface signal on said interface signal lines;determining whether or not said quality is above a threshold level; andin response to determining that said quality is above a threshold level,generating said indication.
 18. The method of claim 18, wherein saidmeasuring and determining are performed at a remote side of saidinterface signal lines opposite said interface transmitter and whereinsaid method further comprises communicating a state of said indicationto a receiver at a local side of said interface signal lines wherebysaid state of said indication is used to perform said disabling at saidloal side of said interface.
 19. The method of claim 16, wherein saiddisabling further comprises disabling at least a portion of another setof internal pre-buffer circuits that provides a second signal of saiddifferential signal path, and wherein said method further comprises:generating an alternative differential signal pair representing saidsignals of said differential signal path; and selectively applying saidalternative differential signal pair to said output driver in responseto said disabling.
 20. The method of claim 16, further comprising:multiplexing two or more information signals onto said differentialsignal path; and ceasing multiplexing of at least one of said two ormore information signals in response to said disabling.